Despite moving up and down the East Coast during her childhood, transitioning from a Delaware boarding school to a New England elite liberal arts college, and anticipating her graduation, Williams senior Lindsay Payne may never know what it's like to feel like a fish out of water.
That's because she may never get out.
The standout swimmer was recently nominated as one of 12 finalists for the Honda Div. III Female Athlete of the Year award. The nod recognizes Payne's four-season stint at Williams that included seven individual Div. III titles, four National relay titles, and a string of shattered records and high-level accolades.
A psychology major, Payne holds NCAA Div. III records in the 100 breaststroke (1:00.54), the 200 breaststroke (2:12.83), and the 200 individual medley (2:03.14). She was the first four-time winner of the 100 breaststroke at Div. III Nationals, and a two-time NCAA Div. III Swimmer of the Meet in 2005 and 2006. Payne's top times in both breaststroke events would have made her a Div. I double All-American, and she is the 19th-fastest 100 breaststroker in NCAA history.
For any other student-athlete, the nomination would have been the final flourish in a prolific career. But Payne may not be done yet; with her performances at the 2005 ConocoPhillips National Swimming Championships last August, she has qualified for the 2008 Olympic Trials in the 100 and 200 meter breaststroke.
"I don't think she's swum as fast as she can," Williams swimming coach Steve Custer said. "If she decides that's what she wants, she's only got better swimming ahead of her."
A three-sport high school athlete at St. Andrew's School in Middletown, Delaware, Payne was only a seasonal swimmer, splitting the rest of the year between soccer and crew. As her college search began, she knew she wanted to pursue swimming, even though she hadn't swum on club teams in high school.
"I looked at the Ivies but I decided I wanted a Div. III program," Payne said. "I wanted more balance. I didn't want swimming controlling everything else; I wanted it to be a part of everything else."
After considering Middlebury, another NESCAC athletic giant, Payne decided on Williams. Former Ephs coach Carl Samuelson, who headed the men's program from 1966 to 1999, had been Payne's original swimming coach in Long Island. The seed was planted early, and a year later, Payne found herself in the pool named after Samuelson, which she would make her own personal stomping ground.
"After watching her race for the first time, I knew she was raw, but there was a lot there," Custer said. "I'd be lying if I said I knew she'd be as good as she is, but it was clear that there was something pretty special."
Under Custer's leadership, Payne refined her strokes and slowly added weight training and increased practice sessions every year. And although her primary stroke is the breaststroke, Payne's athleticism translated across the board as she improved, and she branched out into other races.
In addition to her breaststroke titles at the 2006 Div. III Nationals, Payne also won the 200 individual medley, an event in which she failed to even qualify for the consolation round in her sophomore season. Her 2:03.14 time bested the defending champion, set a new Div. III record, and added another notch to her impressive resume.
"Every year, [Nationals] is a different experience," Payne said. "Obviously to be up there for the fourth time with the breaststroke is amazing, but it's also the gradual progression of adding something each year. Winning two breasts for the first time [this year] was really cool, every relay has been awesome, and the 200 IM was really cool; I'd never even been close to winning that before. Every time I get up there, it takes on new meaning."
Along with her storied individual success, Payne seems to turn everything she touches to gold. She has won four Div. III relays, including repeat victories in the 400 medley relay in 2005 and 2006, anchoring a team of three different racers each year.
"She's capable of being a vocal leader if need be, but more than anything, it's her work ethic and just how good she is," Custer said. "By her senior year, she said 'give me everything you've got, give me the toughest sets you have - I'm here and I love doing what I'm doing, and I'm going to attack it.' She's got this attitude about coming to the pool every day and doing it for the right reasons, not just finding the path of least resistance. That's really rubbed off on people."
This athleticism and leadership was on full display in the 400 freestyle relay in this year's NCAA Championships. After a second-place finish in the preliminaries, the Ephs were in fifth place when Payne hit the water for the anchor leg. She made up a 1.43 second deficit for the win, turning in a 50.30 second split, the fastest final leg by over a second.
"The 400 relays were really special, to be able to spend it with three different people each time," Payne said. "The 400 [free] was the coolest thing this year. We didn't expect to be up there - it was all adrenaline, exactly what racing is all about. That was a really special moment."
The trip to the Olympic Trials will not be Payne's first. After qualifying for the US Summer Nationals during her sophomore year, she took a year off from Williams and moved to Washington, D.C., where she interned with the AmeriCorp VISTA program and intensified her training regimen. It paid off as she qualified for the 2004 trials in the 100 breaststroke.
She missed qualifying for the Games, but returned from her year off stronger, faster and hungrier than ever for her final two seasons of NCAA eligibility. Exploding onto the national scene in 2004-2005, she won both breaststroke events, two relays, and Swimmer of the Meet at both the NESCAC and NCAA Championships.
"I think she was pretty disappointed with how she swam at Olympic trials," Custer said. "But I know from my experience that it's difficult to make the work you're doing show up exactly when you want it to. Getting her back here, and continuing to work hard and build her confidence up a little bit made the difference. She experimented with other events [besides breaststroke] this year, and obviously had a lot of success. Hers is really a path that has continued to blossom."
That path has reached its end in Williamstown, and it was a perfectly scripted one. Payne has just capped off a season that most collegiate athletes only dream of, and will graduate as one of the most decorated athletes in Williams history.
"I don't know what expectations I had [coming in this year]," she said. "I just wanted to improve where I could and enjoy my last year and anything it brought. It's been incredible."
And it might not be over yet.
